Abrams on Access Health CT: Resounding Success

Submitted by Marc Abrams, Democratic nominee for the State Assembly (149th District) representing Greenwich and North Stamford

The appointment of Kevin Counihan to lead the federal health exchange is proof of the resounding success of Access Health CT. Since October of last year, more than a quarter million Connecticut residents have gained health insurance through the exchange, while the rate of uninsured in the state has collapsed by half in the last ten months alone. This success has not gone unnoticed and many other states have scrapped plans to develop their own exchanges in favor of using Connecticut as their model.

Having grown up in Connecticut without health insurance, (my mother, our primary caregiver and provider was denied insurance for our family because of her “preexisting condition” of having Type 1 diabetes) I have seen first-hand the impact of living without health insurance. As a father and husband with a two year old son, I remember back to those days and cannot imagine the daily stress parents without health insurance live under today. Fortunately thanks to Governor Malloy and the General Assembly Democrats, Connecticut is on the path to full coverage.

However, the continued success of our Access Health CT is still in jeopardy. Tom Foley has said that he will consider gutting key components.

Indeed, Foley cheered on the congressional Republicans’ actions in shutting down the federal government in order to try to stop the Affordable Care Act from being implemented. Similarly, my opponent, Mrs. Floren, voted against S.B. No. 921, the act that established Access Health CT. If she has the opportunity to team up with Foley, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents could lose their access to affordable health care.

I will defend the hard-fought gains in health care for citizens of this state, and work to improve coverage while keeping costs down. My opponent has demonstrated through many of her significant votes (and her missed votes) that she is out of touch with the needs of our citizens and state. It’s time to elect a representative who works for the good of all citizens and recognizes that in a civilized society affordable health care should not be a privilege, but rather a moral imperative which can be accomplished in a way that results in good economic policy.

Marc Abrams is the Democratic nominee for the State Assembly (149th District) representing Greenwich and North Stamford

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"By ignoring Congress’ decision and reallocating money to build a wall, the President is usurping and overriding the role assigned to Congress by the Constitution. He is elevating the Executive branch over the Legislative. This is, unfortunately, one more step – the most brazen to date – toward an authoritarian form of government. When a President simply ignores the Constitution, we no longer have a democracy." – Indivisible Greenwich Steering Committee

"Had Hillary’s team not gotten giddy over the polling data, they would have seen what the numbers were really showing – most critically, how their own campaign message was corroding the data they were basing their strategy on – they drank their own Kool-Aid." – Marc Abrams, Greenwich resident and former member of the RTM, candidate for State Assembly and co-president of the Greenwich Reform Synagogue

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Indivisible Greenwich, a local chapter of Indivisible, the national movement created to protect America’s democracy during the Trump Administration, will meet on Thursday, February 21st, at 7:00pm, at Eastern Middle School, 51 Hendrie Avenue, Riverside. The meeting will be a joint event co-hosted with Indivisible Stamford, a Stamford chapter of Indivisible.